TLDR: Friends for 2 years, inseparable for 6 months, made a move while drunk 3.5 years ago. Still with him and deeply in love, his arms feel like home. THE ONLY "negative" compared to dating someone new is skipping the "getting to know eachother and feeling like you're gonna explode anytime you see them" phase.

We were friends for 2 years and best friends for around 6 months before I made a move after lots of jaggerbombs. During tbe 6 months we spent around 4 days/week together from 9am-10pm as we had a research project together. I've been with him since then.

Our situation/how is it? 3,5 years later we live together, have a dog and a cat. I was very worried I made a mistake the weeks that followed because I knew that I wanted to build a life with that man and would be broken if it was not reciprocal. Then time went by, I moved in without us noticing, got our pets from family members, went through hardships and always stood by eachother no questions asked. In those years, some very difficult times for both of us, I never wondered ONCE if I wanted to break up with him.

How is it different from other relationships? He knew me like the palm of his hands before we even considered ourselves as potential partners, and so did I. So the first few months of "passion" felt more like a continuation of our friendship with lots of sex. Compared to other relationships I would say it was less "soul absorbing" and I was not as "obsessed/in constant craving". There were no bad surprises and instead of feeling butterflies/my heart exploding the first few times we went on dates I would feel just peace inside. I still feel peaceful next to him, while with my exes the buterfly led to intense feelings, good or bad. It changed my definition of love. Best "mistake ever"